Tufted Puffin, Fratercula cirrhata

The
Tufted Puffin, above, swimming, and below, taking off, is famous for
the spectacular large orange bill which it shares with other puffin
species, inspiring the nickname "sea parrot." The white face and
yellow plumes mark this species' breeding plumage; the head is plain
dark gray during the non-breeding season, when Tufted Puffins live at
sea, see bottom of page. A hundred or so pairs nest on
the South Farallon Islands in the Pacific Ocean west of San
Franciso, the southernmost nesting colony for this bird of the northern
ocean.

Tufted Puffins roosting on the island cliffs, where they nest in rock crevices.

A
rare picture of a Tufted Puffin in non-breeding plumage, this one
photographed in late October southeast of the Farallon Islands, where
the birds nest.